Turkey: Another mother joins sit-in against PKK terror

Families stage sit-in outside office of opposition party accused by government of having links with PKK

By Mehmet Sah Yilmaz, Sukru Gunduz

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Another mother joined a sit-in protest in southeastern Turkey on Friday, outside the provincial office of a Turkish opposition party long accused by the government of having links to the PKK terror group.

The protest started on Sept. 3 in Diyarbakir after a mother, Fevziye Cetinkaya, said her 17-year-old son was forcibly recruited by the PKK through members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Necibe Ciftci traveled from southeastern Hakkari province to join the sit-in protest, which grows every day. She claimed her son Rosat Ciftci was kidnapped by the PKK five years ago when he was 16 years old.

Two year ago, she said, PKK terrorists killed her other son Sami Ciftci, who has four children, for not supporting the terror organization.

“Terrorists kidnapped Sami in front of his children. We found his dead body after two hours. They took him to a farm and tied his hands and killed him. First, they kidnapped his brother, then killed Sami,” she added.

The protesting families, who come from different provinces across Turkey, asserted their children either were kidnapped or deceived into joining the terror group.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.